


The Pride Lands

by phooykazooi



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Banter, Blood, Hyena!Axel, Prejudice, Sassy Axel, some language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-26
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 10:04:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3443165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phooykazooi/pseuds/phooykazooi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roxas and Axel explore the Pride Lands, wherein they are attacked by well-meaning lionesses. Roxas really, really wishes they went to Atlantica instead.</p><p> </p><p>	Roxas wonders if the lionesses are capable of understanding speech, so he gives it a shot.<br/>"We're not threats," he tries.<br/>"Bullshit," one of the lionesses snarl.<br/>Score, Roxas thinks feebly.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pride Lands

Roxas and Axel step out of the portal into the Pridelands. Roxas has been here twice before, once with a guide and the other solo. While they were still in the organization, he hadn't had the chance to bring Axel with him, but it was better late than never, right?

"This is so cool!" Axel yips. He's grinning and it makes him looks more wild than usual.

Even as a human being, his sharp smiles have the ability to make one feel on edge. As he is right now, he looks just plain demented. Here, he's a spotted hyena It makes sense; Axel can be sneaky and he looks out for himself first and foremost. His fur has a reddish hue in the blaring noon sun and his mane is blood-red, slightly darker than his hair but just as spiky. Roxas has seen some hyenas in this world before, but they would never get too close. They would stalk him in the darker regions of the lands, cackling whenever he looked back at them. Axel still has his tear-shaped tattoos, but here, they are simple markings on his friend's fur. The green of his eyes especially stand out because of the speckled dark coat of a typical hyena.

"Oh, hey!" Axel's grin shows his gleaming fangs, all the way up to his healthy pink gums. "You're a lion!" He snickers. "Pretty puny lion, I gotta say…"

"Shut up," Roxas says, swatting at him. His partner in crime tries to hop away but stumbles, unused to life on four legs.

Axel laughs. 

* * *

 

Roxas noticed that heartless sometimes imitate the wildlife and the natives in the world they are invading. He doesn't know if there's any connection, and if there is, it probably won't matter in the long run. The point is that the heartless here are more annoying than usual and take a little longer to disperse. Luckily for Axel and him, there aren't that many; this world is pretty stable. It’s peaceful, even.

They do end up getting hurt, though.

"Down!" Axel shrieks. Roxas drops to is belly and feels the fur on the tip of his head singe a little as a huge fireball sails over where he had just been.

"Watch it!" He snarls over his shoulder.

Axel cackles.

A two-legged, rhinoceros-like heartless stomps its feet, striped jaw snapping at the air. Its mouth is toothless, but the jaw resembles fangs, like a child's drawing. They may look ridiculous on paper, but in real life Roxas makes sure to steer clear of them. He and Axel have already brought down its other three siblings. It and two heartless-monkeys are left. A dark-furred heartless-monkey dances to his right, magic pooling between what Roxas guesses are its palms. Another monkey screeches and throws darkness at his paws, but Roxas hops away.

Behind him, Axel screams.

Roxas instantly turns around to look. While he’s distracted, the heartless-monkey uses that opportunity to hit him square in the chest with a magic inhibitor. The inhibitor is a small ball of compressed, negative energy designed to depress one's use of magic. Once hit, it will take a day and a half for the effects to wear off. He knows this from an outsider's perspective; on his first mission here, he was sent with Demyx. They were caught by surprise and had to wait for someone else to fetch them since Roxas couldn't open his own portals and Demyx was magically crippled. Poor Demyx was teased for weeks afterward.

It's like someone dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. An intense chill shivers through his entire body, forcing him into a complete stop. Then, he thaws and he takes a deep unhampered breath, numb warmth wrapping into his muscles. He's stiff, though. Like he doesn't know he's not deep-frozen. He remembers Axel and tunes back into the battle at hand.

There's something wrong with Axel's leg; he keeps it off the ground and his head is hanging low, chin brushing the stringy grass. The remaining rhinoceros-heartless is trying to twist back onto its feet, but Axel exterminates it using a fireball so intense, Roxas can feel its heat from where he crouches. The heartless dies with a bloodcurdling scream.

Then, Axel gets hit with a dark ball of negative magic, falling back with a yelp.

This is just annoying. Roxas lopes to the heartless-monkey and strikes it with Oblivion. He gets in close and wills her into existence, handle hovering half an inch from his mouth. She sinks into the heartless' exposed back and disappears when he wishes her to. The heartless dies with a groan. It's captured heart hovers drunkenly upward. Then it's gone.

Axel is whining low in his throat, pained noises that make Roxas nervous.

"Axel? What happened?" he asks quietly. It's a stupid question. The leg, the hind right leg is clearly broken, where Roxas thinks the knee would be if they were human. It's bent out of shape and Axel is shaking on his feet, trembling from pain.

"It broke, dummy." He says with a grimace, voice strained. "The rhino thing, it got an edge on when I wasn't paying attention."

"Oh. Can't you just use Cure?”

"Already tried. Can't."

"You were hit with the thing from the monkey?"

Axel snorts. "If by thing you mean mysterious ball of creepy dark energy, then yes. I was hit with the thing. Why? Do you know what it is?"

Roxas nods. "Yeah. It suppresses your magic so you can't use it for a while. Dem got hit the first time I came here. We were stuck for the whole day."

Axel groans. "The entire day? Okay, fine, but you didn't get hit, right?"

When Roxas hesitates, Axel snaps, "Are you serious? But you knew about it!"

"I was distracted!"

"By what, your luscious mane?"

They find a nice shaded area. The Pride Lands are mostly savannah, but by luck, this disastrous fight took place near an oasis. There is plenty of water and though there are only three barren trees, it offers some relief from the sun. In the distance, a rock formation juts imperiously into the blue sky.

After drinking his fill, Axel carefully lays down, panting feverishly. Roxas knows only a part of it is because of the heat. Axel whines, low and involuntary, but he can't seem to stop himself.

Roxas laps grudgingly at the only water source he will like have for two days. He tries not to think about what germs and parasites are lurking in the water he's drinking, but it only gets him thinking about how much water he will probably have drunk by the end of their stay here. He wishes he could boil or purify the water in some way, but he doesn't have any supplies to light a fire. Even he did, there's no saying if he would have been able to in the first place. He can't do much without hands.

Axel whines again, but he tries to cut the sound off. It makes him sound pathetic. He tries to rest, maybe take a nap only he's clearly in too much pain to do so. Roxas swallows, feeling stupid for not having thought to bring even a single potion. All their stuff is still at their motel which was weird because Roxas swears he walked through the portal with his backpack. Either way, they are without supplies, stranded in a mostly unfamiliar place, and one of them is wounded.

This sucks ass.

"Oh my God," Axel groans, pawing at his eyes. "Stop _angsting_ , you're making everything worse."

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, _stop_."

Roxas bites his tongue to keep himself from apologizing again. He winces, instantly tasting blood. He keeps forgetting about his new super-sharp teeth.

"Go make yourself useful," Axel says, "and get us something to eat."

"Like what?"

"I don't know! We're carnivores; go hunt something."

"What, like a zebra? No way!"

Axel snorts. "I was thinking more like a rabbit or something but dream big, I guess. Besides, it's not like we haven't eaten meat before; it'll just be a bit rare, is all."

"Dude, I'm not going to kill a bunny!"

"Why not?"

"Because- because it's a bunny. I'm absolutely not gonna kill a bunny."

"But I'm so hungry, Roxas! I'm going to starve by the time the spell wears off!"

Roxas rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to shoot back a reply but Axel shushes him. Ears pricked, the hyena slowly stands. "Did you hear that?" he asks.

Roxas snorts. "You're not gonna fool me that easy, you punk," he says, tail flicking irately. Only, he hears something in the brush. Suspicious now, he follows suit, sliding next to Axel. He strains his senses watching the area where he thinks the sound came from.

After his mission with Demyx, Roxas studied most of the wildlife found in the African Savannah using the humongous library in the castle. One of the animals he researched was lions. He saw pictures, marveled over their huge fangs. He read about the hunting tactics and pride dynamics, how the lionesses downed prey twice their weight. On his first mission here with Demyx, he didn't see hide nor hair of the beasts, exempting himself.

A lioness prowls from the underbrush. She circles the two of them, watching with cold amber eyes. The pictures and the online videos are nothing compared to the real thing. She is all muscle and rough fur, every move calculated and smooth. She is what Roxas imagines a shark must be like up close, no twitch is wasted and each breath exhaled on a purring growl. She stalks the two of them in sweeping ovals, silent on deathly paws.

They hunt in groups, Roxas remembers an article saying. So where's the rest of her party?

Six other lionesses step out from the savanna. They surround Roxas and Axel with easy, smooth movements, acting as one entity.

Oh. He just had to ask.

This is almost worse than any heartless Roxas has yet to face. Not only are both Roxas and Axel crippled, magical speaking, Axel is also wounded. Also, these animals are not mindless monsters consumed by darkness, compelled by nothing but emotion. These are monsters that can think, can formulate plans and act upon them, learning from past mistakes. Heartless can't do that, they are unable to think for themselves beyond attacking what's in front of them. Heartless have no thought behind their actions. On the other hand, Roxas has faced stronger, more fearsome foes than lions. He doesn't think anything can be worse than the monsters he once called his masters.

Axel keeps almost stumbling over Roxas (damn his short stature), trying to keeps the lionesses in his line of sight. Luckily Roxas has always been quick. He steps out Axel's path without moving further from the hyena. Roxas wonders if the lionesses are capable of understanding speech, so he gives it a shot.

"We're not threats," he tries.

"Bullshit," one of the lionesses snarl.

 _Score,_ Roxas thinks feebly.

"Please," Roxas continues, "my friend's hurt, we wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight anyway." Okay, that's a boldfaced lie. He's put down scarier things half-dead and blinded, but he figures he'd better try anyway, in the name of good sportsmanship. That being said, he doesn't really want to fight to the death with seven strong lionesses, not with the odds against him like this.

"Kidnapping cubs now, hyena?" another sneers, apparently pretending Roxas hadn't spoken.

"Well," Axel says, leering at Roxas, "I just couldn't help myself."

Every single one of the lionesses bristle.

Roxas does too. "Shut up, Axel, you're making things worse."

"You know I'm not good at following orders."

"Then think of it like a request."

"Not too good with those either."

"Enough." This lioness pauses in her stalking, two others lurking behind her like living shadows. The remaining four don't stop in their circling. She has darker fur than the others, but only by a shade or two. She's bigger too, and they all quiet when she tells them to. She’s got gray around her muzzle and a crapton of scars. Even Axel and Roxas are compelled to cease bickering. "You are trespassing on claimed lands. Leave the cub in our care and we may let you go unscathed." She pauses, eyeing Axel's broken leg. "Well, more or less."

"Sorry, ma'am," Axel says good naturally, "but the cub ain't going nowhere he doesn't want to."

"Fine." She turns her attention to Roxas. Her features visibly soften, expression becoming more friendly. "You'll be safe with us," she tells him. "We have cubs around your age and you can make some friends. We would love to have you join our pride."

He doesn't really know what to think about that, so he goes with this: "While that's very flattering, I'm pretty okay here. But, uh... Thanks?"

Axel might as well be glowing. Roxas flicks him with his tail, proud that he has enough motor control to do that. His friend tries to give him a wounded look, but it's a bit hampered by his happiness. Honestly, it's like he expects Roxas to jump the chance to leave.

She sighs. "I was hoping to avoid violence with a cub so close, but I guess it can't be helped." She makes brief eye contact with the two lionesses behind her. Roxas has no idea how they communicate, but they stride towards Axel and Roxas. The four pacing lionesses must have gotten another signal because they tighten their loops and quicken their pace. The two aforementioned lionesses break into a loping run straight for Roxas. He stumbles back into Axel, but even though he's nearly entangled in Axel's legs, they still end up separated.

This does not sit well with Roxas.

He snarls without meaning to, baring his teeth but keeping his throat unexposed. It's two against one but he's faced worse odds before. Roxas darts forward, snapping at the nearest lionesses' ankles. She yowls, more in surprise than pain, and jumps out of harm's way. He tastes blood in his mouth and it's disgusting, but it's not a lot, he can deal. Axel yips and Roxas attempts to weave out from between the wall of lionesses. She and her partner don't want to hurt him, not really, so he uses it to his full advantage. He gets in close because they won't do anything dangerous that draws a lot of blood.

Roxas on the other hand, he's vicious. He bites her legs and claws at her tendons, goes for her underbelly and tries to rake his claws through her. He mostly misses, but it's enough for her to keep her distance.

Axel's like demon, his jackal face a hell hound's malicious grin. He's in pain but he's never one to go down without a fight. There's something majestic about it, this feral scene, what with the both of them dueling with fangs and claws opposed to sharpened knives or bludgeoned keyblades. Axel's got blood on his teeth, splattered on his coat and it might be his or it could be one the lionesses. He's on three legs and his left shoulder has been ripped clean open (a lioness has gash on her jaw and her eye is bloody), he's taking on five at once but so far he's holding his own. A lioness sneaks through his guard though, and she goes for his throat.

Roxas lunges and suddenly it's _his_ mouth around _her_ throat. She jerks back and yowls. Roxas digs his claws in for good measure and he's clinging to her like a tick. Her blood is actually kind of sweet, but a bit bitter at the same time. It reminds him of the time he tried to eat an apple right from its tree, way before it was ripe.

Axel yelps, but Roxas can't see how his friend's doing; the lioness is trying to bat him off her, she's bucking like a rodeo horse or bull in a show. She even rolls to her back in hopes to pry him off with her hind legs, but Roxas just avoids her kicking legs and clings all the tighter. He doesn't think he can kill her; his teeth aren't grown enough for that but he'll do his worst. Under his tongue, wet and feeling heavy from all the blood, he can feel her rumbling, pained growls. Another lioness pulls him off by the scruff of his neck; he tears off small strips of skin as he's hauled away, the lioness he was attached to groaning. Roxas twists in her mouth and he manages to scratch her nose before she tosses him.

He's on his feet in a second and watching as three lionesses, one of whom he just attacked, surround him when a huge, deafening roar bellows through the savanna. The lionesses instantly back off, even those whom were attacking Axel, giving them plenty of breathing space. Roxas is panting and his legs are shaking. He looks for where the roar came from.

It's a lion. He's standing at the roots of the tall grass, glaring. He has a thick, red mane, and his coat is tawny, like the lionesses. He's taller than everyone here and Roxas is pretty sure that one of his paws are bigger than Roxas' human head. He swallows when the lion blinks at the two of them. "What is the meaning of this?" His voice is kind of nasally, and it's so soft it shouldn't sound commanding but it somehow does.

One of the lionesses take the initiative. "This hyena has trespassed, sire. We were driving him out."

"I'm aware of that, thank you." The lion begins to stride forward. He walks like he's king of the world and knows it, a bit of a loping grace to his steps. The lionesses part for him, like soldiers for their captain. He stops an unsafe twenty feet from Roxas. He continues, "What I'm talking about is the cub. Why is there a cub with a hyena?"

"We're not sure, sire," another says. "We found them together. He must have spirited the kid away."

The lion watches Roxas with golden eyes. He moves forward. Roxas tenses, ears pinned defensively and preparing for a fight. When the lion is almost close enough to reach out and bump noses, Axel hurtles in front of him, a snarling gray blur. He stands in front of Roxas protectively, fur bristled and bloody lips pulled back to show glistening fangs. He looks like he's held together through strength of will alone, like he could collapse at the slightest pressure.

"Back off," he says, words barely coherent.

The lionesses shift uneasily, but the lion doesn't even blink. Instead, he actually steps back. Coolly, he inquires, "What are you doing in my lands and why do you have a cub with you?"

"We're passin' through. As for the cub, it's not much of your business."

The lion doesn't appear to be offended. He just tilts his head and flicks his tail. "As king of these lands, it is my business. I'll ask again: why do you have a cub with you?"

Roxas crawls through beneath his friend's legs before Axel can properly react. "I came with him."

The lion blinks down at him. "Voluntarily?"

Axel snorts. "He doesn't do anything he doesn't want to."

Roxas ignores him. "Yes."

"Hm." The lion considers Roxas and then Axel. "And why are you here?"

"We were passing through," Axel reiterates. "Not looking for trouble."

"We never look for trouble," Roxas grumbles.

The lion steps away and turns to one of the trees. "Zazu," he calls.

A hornbill perched on one of the spindly branches takes to its wings. It glides closer to the lion and lands delicately next to one of his huge paws. "Sire?" he says, eyeing Axel warily.

"Fly back home and tell Rafiki he's needed here. We'll wait until you guys get back. And tell him to bring medical supplies." He pauses and looks at Axel's wounds. "Tell him to bring things for broken bones and open wounds. Bad ones."

"Sire?" The bird parrots himself. Offended and disbelieving sounds very natural on him.

"Go, Zazu," The lion orders.

With a final withering stare at Axel, Zazu flies away, toward the shadowed rock formation in the distance.

"Sire?" One of the lionesses pad forward, head tilted.

"It looks like we owe you two an apology," he says.

* * *

Apparently, the lion's name is Simba and he's king of the Pride Lands. Roxas wasn't aware the Pride Lands had a monarchy of any kind, and tells King Simba.

"It's been this way since the dawn of time," King Simba replies. "My father before me and his mother before him, and her mother's mother before her. That's how it'll always be."

"That sounds a bit... old," Roxas settles with.

"Oh?" the king asks. "How has your pride done it?"

"Well, I mean." Roxas frowns to himself, wondering how best to explain it. "It's pretty similar. The strongest controlled the group, I guess. But I kind of traveled a lot and before that, it was... I I can't remember a lot about where I was before..."

King Simba hums. “That sounds complicated. Do you mind if I ask why you left?”

Roxas does mind. He minds a lot. “Bad stuff happened. I had to leave. Now, I’m trying to find my friends, but I need to find someone else to help with that. Hey, do you know a kid named Sora?”

King Simba’s eyebrows raise. “As a matter of fact, I do. Is he one of the friends you’re talking about?”

“Sort of. We’ve never actually officially met. Face to face. But, yeah. We’re… I know him. Have you heard about where he is?”

“I’m afraid not,” the lion king says. He sounds genuinely disappointed. “He left without saying much about where he was going.” He pauses. His gaze slants to Axel, resting by the watering hole. “The hyena… How did you meet him?”

“Axel? We met awhile ago. He defected from … our last pride with me. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’d been able to get away from them without him. Not only is he a close friend, he’s saved my life.”

The king hums thoughtfully. “Sorry for asking. It’s just the hyenas here aren’t good company to keep.”

“Oh. Well. I’ve never met any of the other people here. Like Axel said, we’re just passing through.”

“Yes, I remember. In any case, you’re welcome to stay until your friend’s healed. Rafiki should be here soon.”

“Um, actually…” Roxas hesitates. He’s not sure how much he should say about their magic; Xehanort always cautioned using it except for dire circumstances. Then again, he also encouraged it as a show of force when necessary. He decides to go for vague. “We have a way out, but we won’t be able to leave until tomorrow evening. So, we’ll be out of your hair in a day or two.”

King Simba starts, surprised. “Oh, that’s right; Sora had some sort of transport. Do you have something similar?”

“Kind of, yeah. I’ve got a keyblade. Her name’s Oblivion.”

Roxas pauses and glances upwards, sensing movement. Zazu the hornbill is arriving, feathers flaring in the breeze. He lands to the right of King Simba, just behind a gigantic paw. “Rafiki will be arriving shortly, sire,” he informs the lion. “I still think we should let the mangy hound fester, but my humble opinion is eclipsed by the king’s judgement.”

Roxas feels his lips peel back and his weak mane prickles. “Excuse me?”

The bird looks him dead in the eye. “My opinion is of no importance. However--”

“Zazu,” the king interrupts. “Why don’t you head back to the pride, let everyone know about our guests.”

“Of course, sire,” Zazu simpers. He flaps away.

“Sorry about him. He’s very ...spirited.”

“Whatever,” Roxas mutters. “I’m going to hang out with Axel. Excuse me, uh. Sire.” Tail flicking, the cub trots to his friend. Axel hasn’t moved from his prone position, stretched in the meager shade of the spindly trees. His wounds have stopped bleeding, but the blood’s dried on his speckled fur. Roxas settles next to him, clumsily trying to lay down without falling. He finally manages it and catches Axel’s eye. There’s some blood crusted across his muzzle.

Roxas has a sudden, strange desire to lick his friend clean. Wash all the blood off until Axel’s gray fur gleams. It’s really creepy, and he stifles it. God, he hopes he won’t be here long enough to feel any other weird urges.

“Done with your chit chat?” Axel says. “You know what they say about fraternizing with the enemy…”

Roxas gives a confused look. “What?”

Axel rolls his eyes. “Nothin’. What’s up?”

“The king, Simba? He knows about Sora, but doesn’t know where he went.”

“Sucks.” Axel says.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Roxas replies.

“So, why’d they attack? None of these bozos will tell me anything.”

Roxas snorts. “I don’t know. I think there’s some weird thing with the other hyenas. Like, serious conflicts, I guess.”

The hyena rolls his eyes. “Man, I hate it when stuff like this happens. This is why the Organization doesn’t get involved with other worlds. It’s just trouble.”

“Has this happened before?”

Axel shifts. He looks guilty. “Once or twice. Possibly.”

Suspicious, Roxas narrows his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, forget about it.” Axel quickly dismisses. “You said we can’t use any magic until tomorrow, right?”

“Tomorrow evening, probably. Sorry. About that. I didn’t--I wasn’t paying attention and now--”

Axel nips Roxas’ ear. “Chill, blondie. Quit beating yourself up ‘bout it. Jeez.”

Roxas stops himself from apologizing again. “Don’t call me that,” he says instead.

Axel grins, fangs gleaming.

The healer doesn’t arrive until about ten minutes later. Roxas is thankful for the distraction because King Simba looks like he’s about to wander over for a chat. He doesn’t think he could handle Axel’s reflexive defenses and the king’s subtle stabs at his friend. Plus, Axel’s leg and various wounds are bothering him again. He’s stopped panting, which has to be a bad sign, and he’s gone silent. Normally, that’s not a big deal. Axel likes to talk, but he’s also prone to long silences. Roxas is a pretty quiet person and doesn’t usually mind lulls in conversation. Now, the silence is oppressive. Worst of all, Roxas has no idea how to break it.

The healer is a baboon named Rafiki. It shouldn’t have surprised Roxas (it does anyway) that there was a monkey that could talk. There was a bird and lions, a hyena if he counts Axel; why not a baboon? Still, it startles him. He’s seen pictures of baboons in the same books he researched the lions. Just like the lions, the article and the photographs paled in comparison to the real thing.

Rafiki looks huge. His face and his teeth. Holy crap. His coat is bluish-gray, and he walks, well. He walks like a monkey. Knuckle-walking and hobbling, he has a staff clenched in one of his hands, burdened with two fruits; coconuts? Along with the fruit, there are long leaves wrapped soundly around the top of the staff. They might be banana leaves, but Roxas has no clue. They look long enough.

King Simba meets the baboon and they talk as they pad to Roxas and Axel. Roxas stands, tail swishing nervously. Axel watches, but makes no move to get up himself. “This is ‘im?” Rafiki asks, pointing his staff at Axel. “'E’s got the broken leg?”

“That’s right,” King Simba confirms. “And I’m afraid the lionesses did some extra damage.”

Axel snorts. “That’s an understatement.”

Rafiki knuckle-walks closer, until he’s next to Axel’s open wound. Roxas can’t look at it without feeling sick to his stomach, so he averts his gaze to stare at the baboon instead. Rafiki pulls one of the fruits from his staff and cracks it. It splits cleanly down the middle and he gently tears the halves apart. A sticky substance clings stubbornly to the edges of the fruit, prompting him to finger the film free. That done, Rafiki places one of the halves of the fruit in front of Axel.

“This will help wi’ the pain,” he says to Axel, dipping the pads of his fingers into the depths of the fruit. He spoons a thick, creamy substance onto the pads of two fingers.

“Well, who am I to say no to painkillers?” Axel says, watching curiously.

“Oh, not at first!” Rafiki says with a grin. Roxas can confidently say his smile is far scarier than Axel’s. Even Axel looks intimidated. “No, it will ‘urt like the devil. And when I get to the leg?”

Without any further ado, he upends the broken fruit over Axel’s open wound. Roxas and Axel stare as it slowly drips from its container and inches ever closer to the gaping slash. Rafiki pries the thick stuff away from its fruit and it plops loudly into the wound.

Axel hisses, his lips peeling from his teeth and his fur bristling. He makes no other noises while Rafiki liberally lathers the medicine. When he runs out of the stuff, he uses what’s in the other half on the ground too.

Finally, Rafiki leans back and uncaringly discards the empty shells of the fruit. “Okay. Now I start on the leg.”

“Rafiki,” King Simba begins. “Why don’t you give him a break?”

 _“Hell_ no.” Axel denies. “I want this over with.”

Rafiki laughs shrilly, stripping one of the leaves from his staff. “Ah, this one is spirited, ‘e is!” He declares, dipping the leaf into one of the halves of the fruit. He slathers it so the thick juice is dripping slowly down. He observes the prone leg with a doctor’s eye, then slaps the leaf down.

Axel yelps, trying to pull it out of the baboon’s grip. “What the hell? That’s _broken! OW!”_

Rafiki catches the leg at the thigh and strong arms it back. Roxas watches as a painful tug o’ war ensues. Rafiki keeps dragging Axel’s leg closer, reaching around and beneath so the soaking leaf can overlap itself. Meanwhile, Axel actually starts snarling. Roxas is sure that the words he is screeching should not be heard by young ears.

Over the ruckus, Roxas suggests, “Maybe you should let him do his thing.”

Axel whips his head around to stare. He looks like an animal: his eyes are wide and bloodshot, his teeth still have flecks of blood. He also looks devastated. “You’re siding with him? I thought you were my friend!” Rafiki tugs the leaf as though tightening a shoelace. Axel curses anew, his voice high on a whine.

Eventually, he finishes with the leg and hops away. “We will wait ‘ere until the hyena is strong enough to walk. Then, we will ‘ead back where I can treat him properly.” He pauses, eyeing Roxas. “The cub too, I think.”

Roxas freezes. He was absolutely not trying to sneak away while he had the chance. Axel sneers at him like he knew what he was trying to do.

**Author's Note:**

> Next: Roxas and Axel meet the rest of the pride. There are overprotective mothers, curious cubs, and stuck-up hornbills.


End file.
